FOUNDER’S DAY
CONVOCATION
a virtual experience
Celebrating the 155th Anniversary of the Founding of the College
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY SEVENTEENTH TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO ELEVEN O’CLOCK ANTE MERIDIAN Franklin L. Forbes Arena
MOREHOUSE COLLEGE
THEN AND NOW 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, Augusta Institute was established in the basement of Silver Bluff Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga. Founded in 1787, Springfield Baptist is the oldest independent African American church in the United States. The school’s primary purpose was to prepare Black men for ministry and teaching. Today, Augusta Institute is Morehouse College, which is located on a 66-acre campus in Atlanta and enjoys an international reputation for producing leaders who have influenced national and world history. Augusta Institute was founded by the Rev. William Jefferson White, an Augusta Baptist minister, cabinetmaker and journalist, with the encouragement of the Rev. Richard C. Coulter, a former slave from Augusta, Ga., and the Rev. Edmund Turney, organizer of the National Theological Institute for educating freedmen in Washington, D.C. The Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Robert, trained minister, physician and the father of the author of Robert’s Rules of Order, was appointed the Institute’s first President by William Jefferson White. In 1879, Augusta Institute was invited by the Rev. Frank Quarles to move to the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta and the school changed its name to Atlanta Baptist Seminary. Later, the Seminary moved to a 4-acre lot near the site on which the Richard B. Russell Federal Building now stands in downtown Atlanta. Following Robert’s death in 1884, David Foster Estes, a professor at the Seminary, served as the institution’s first Acting President. In 1885, when Dr. Samuel T. Graves was named the second President, the institution relocated to its current site in Atlanta’s West End community. The campus encompasses a Civil War historic site, where Union forces battled Confederate soldiers during William Tecumseh Sherman’s famous siege of Atlanta in 1864. The land was a gift of John D. Rockefeller. Atlanta Baptist Seminary became Atlanta Baptist College in 1897, during the administration of Dr. George Sale, a Canadian who served as the third and youngest President from 1890 to 1906. A new era dawned when Acting President John Hope became the fourth President in 1906, characterized by expanded academic offerings and increased physical facilities. Hope was the College’s first African- American President, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University and a pioneer in the field of education and has been recognized as the first “civil rights President” in the American Academy. He encouraged an intellectual climate comparable to his alma mater and openly challenged Booker T. Washington’s view that education for African Americans should emphasize vocational and agricultural skills. Atlanta Baptist College, already a leader in preparing African Americans for teaching and the ministry, expanded its curriculum and established the tradition of educating leaders for all areas of American life. In addition to attracting a large number of talented faculty and administrators, Hope contributed much to the institution we know today. Upon the death of the College’s founder in 1913, Atlanta Baptist College was named Morehouse College in honor of Henry L. Morehouse, the corresponding secretary of the Northern Baptist Home Mission Society. Dr. Samuel H. Archer became the fifth President of the College in 1931 and headed the institution during the Great Depression. He gave the school its colors, maroon and white, the same as those of his alma mater, Colgate University. Archer retired for health reasons in 1937. Dr. Charles D. Hubert served as the third Acting President until 1940, when Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays became the sixth President of Morehouse College.
A nationally-noted educator and a mentor to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ’48, Mays is recognized as the architect of Morehouse’s international reputation for excellence in scholarship, leadership, and service. During the presidency of Mays, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Bates College and the University of Chicago, the number of faculty members grew and those holding doctoral degrees increased from two to 34 out of 65 teachers. The College earned global recognition as scholars from other countries joined the faculty, an increasing number of international students enrolled, and fellowships and scholarships for study abroad became available. Morehouse received full accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1957, and Mays’s 14-year effort to win a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa at Morehouse was realized in 1968. In 1967, Dr. Hugh Morris Gloster ’31, was selected by Dr. Mays to become the first alumnus to serve as President of the College. Under his leadership, Morehouse strengthened its Board of Trustees, conducted a successful $20-million fundraising campaign, grew the endowment from $3 million to more than $29 million and added 12 buildings to the campus, including the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. became the first Dean of the Chapel in 1979. Morehouse established a dual-degree program in engineering with the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, and Boston University. Gloster founded the Morehouse School of Medicine, which became an independent institution in 1981. He appointed Dr. Louis Wade Sullivan ’54, its first dean; Sullivan later became the school’s first President. In 1987, Dr. Leroy Keith Jr. ’61, was named eighth President of Morehouse. During the Keith administration, the College’s endowment increased to more than $60 million and faculty salaries and student scholarships significantly increased. Construction of the Nabrit-Mapp-McBay science building was completed. In 1994, Nima A. Warfield, a member of the graduating class that year, was named the College’s first U.S. Rhodes Scholar. The “A Candle in the Dark” Gala was founded in 1989 to raise scholarship funds. In October 1994, Wiley Abron Perdue ’57, vice president for business affairs, was appointed the fourth Acting President of Morehouse. Under his leadership, national memorials were erected to honor Dr. Benjamin E. Mays and internationally noted theologian Dr. Howard W. Thurman ’23. Perdue launched an initiative to upgrade the College’s academic and administrative computer information systems and undertook construction of a 5,700-seat gymnasium, which served as a basketball venue for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. On June 1, 1995, Dr. Walter Eugene Massey ’58 was named the ninth President of Morehouse College. A noted physicist and university administrator, Massey called on the Morehouse community to renew its longstanding commitment to a culture of excellence. Before joining the College, Massey held several notable positions, including dean of the college and professor of physics at Brown University, professor of physics and vice president for research at the University of Chicago, director of the National Science Foundation, and senior vice president and provost of the University of California System. Under Massey’s leadership, Morehouse expanded its dual-degree program in natural sciences with Georgia Tech, launched the Center for Excellence in Scie`nce, Engineering, and Mathematics with a $6.7-million U.S.
2 0 2 2 F O U N D E R ’ S D AY C O N V O C AT I O N | 2 |
MOREHOUSE COLLEGE
THEN AND NOW Defense Department grant, and established a new African American studies program and a center for international studies named for former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young. The College was reaccredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Division of Business Administration and Economics was accredited by the American Association of Schools and Colleges of Business, making Morehouse one of only a handful of liberal arts colleges in the nation with both AASCB accreditation and a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. During Massey’s tenure, two more Rhodes Scholars were named —Chris Elders in 2002 and Oluwabusayo “Tope” Folarin in 2004. In June 2006, the College successfully completed Morehouse’s most ambitious capital campaign as of that date—raising a record $112 million, which exceeded the campaign’s goal of $105 million. The same year, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin raised $34 million to give to Morehouse College to acquire the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. Today, Morehouse is the permanent custodian of this coveted collection, which includes more than 13,000 hand-written notes, sermons, letters, books, and other artifacts belonging to its most noted alumnus, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ’48. On July 1, 2007, the Rev. Dr. Robert Michael Franklin Jr. ’75 was appointed the 10th President of Morehouse College. The former president of the Interdenominational Theological Center had previously served as presidential distinguished professor of social ethics at the Candler School of Theology and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, both at Emory University. During his tenure, Franklin led the institution forward with his vision of the “Morehouse Renaissance,” further elevating public confidence in the College’s continuing stature as a premier institution providing a high-quality education and enhancing the intellectual and moral dimension of Morehouse’s mission and mystique. In part, he accomplished this by establishing the concept of the “Five Wells,” an ideal to cultivate men of Morehouse as “Renaissance men with social conscience and global perspective” who are well-read, well-spoken, well-traveled, well-dressed, and well-balanced. Under Franklin’s leadership, the College reaffirmed its commitment to academic rigor, underscored by re-accreditation in 2009 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In a $20-million project initiated by Massey, Franklin oversaw the completion and opening of the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Aretha Robinson Music Academic Building, a 75,000-square-foot facility named after the late, legendary musician. Franklin led and supported cultivation efforts—such as establishing the Renaissance Commission, a blue-ribbon group of 150 influential volunteer stakeholders—that increased the total number of new donors by 4,500. The College had generated more than $68 million in institutional funds ($33 million during the silent phase of the comprehensive capital campaign) and $60 million in restricted funds from federal sources. After a period of transitional leadership, Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79, an accomplished university administrator, professor, and former executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, stepped into office as the College’s 11th President on Jan. 28, 2013. Under his leadership, the College improved student achievement across a wide range of metrics. In addition, Wilson played a pivotal role in bringing President Barack Obama to Morehouse as the Commencement speaker in 2013, and, in 2015, hosting then Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. In 2016, Prince Abudu became the College’s first international Rhodes Scholar, making him the fourth Rhodes Scholar the College has produced.
President Wilson served the College for four years, ending his tenure on April 7, 2017. William James Taggart, a graduate of Howard and Harvard universities, assumed the role of the sixth Acting President of the College after serving as the chief operating officer at Morehouse since 2015. Tragically, just two months after his appointment, Taggart suddenly passed away on June 8, 2017. Two Acting Presidents then led the campus, including Harold Martin Jr. ’02, who left the Morehouse Board of Trustees temporarily to accept the appointment as the eighth Acting President. In October 2017, the Morehouse Board of Trustees voted to name Dr. David A. Thomas as the 12th President of Morehouse, ushering in a new era of leadership for the College. Thomas took office on Jan. 1, 2018. A visionary leader, Thomas has 30 years of higher education experience as a professor and an administrator. He holds a doctorate in organizational behavior studies and a Master of Philosophy in organizational behavior, both from Yale University. He also has a Master of Organizational Psychology degree from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Administrative Sciences degree from Yale College. Thomas is the former H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the former Dean of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. President Thomas has significantly prioritized fundraising to support campus renovations, faculty research, infrastructure improvements, and other needs. During the President’s first year in office, enrollment applications increased by more than 40 percent, and a fifth Rhodes Scholar was named—Franck Nijimbere, a computer science and mathematics major who was selected as a Rhodes Scholar in May 2018. The prestigious honor made Morehouse the top producer of Rhodes Scholars among HBCUs. Under Thomas’ leadership in 2018-19, Morehouse raised more than $7 million to establish new endowed scholarships, build an outdoor study area and park for students, and support programming at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, thanks to generous donations. In addition, the College received another $4 million dollars in grants to fund the expansion of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and to launch the comprehensive collegiate writing program, the Black Ink Project, a Quality Enhancement Plan initiative designed to build the critical thinking and writing skills of students across the curriculum. President Thomas’ Commencement at Morehouse made history in higher education when philanthropist and honorary degree recipient Robert F. Smith told the Class of 2019 that he would pay off their student loans. It was the first gift of its kind, nationally, at a liberal arts college heralding an intensification of large donations and investments in education at Morehouse to occur soon after. Morehouse College, the only historically Black college for men, continues its legacy of delivering an exceptional educational experience that meets the intellectual, moral, and social needs of students representing more than 35 states and 17 countries. Morehouse is the nation’s top producer of Black males who continue their education and receive doctorates. The National Science Foundation also ranked Morehouse as the No. 1 producer of Black men who receive doctorates in education, life and physical sciences, math and computer sciences, psychology and social sciences, as well as humanities and the arts. Morehouse currently has more than 17,000 alumni.
2 0 2 2 F O U N D E R ’ S D AY C O N V O C AT I O N | 3 |
2022 FOUNDER’S DAY CONVOCATION PRESIDING: Kendrick Brown, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Provost of Academic Affairs PRE-CEREMONIAL MUSIC PROCESSIONAL
“Improvisation on Lift Every Voice and Sing” “War March of the Priests” by Felix Mendelssohn
OPENING REMARKS
INTRODUCTION OF THE FOUNDER’S REPRESENTATIVE
LIGHTING THE CANDLE OF THE MYSTIQUE
Provost Brown
The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. Founding Dean, Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Evans Interim Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church Dean, Morehouse School of Religion, Interdenominational Theological Center Atlanta, Ga.
Dean Carter
EVOCATION
PRESENTATION OF COLORS
“The Star-Spangled Banner” Text by Francis Scott Key Music by John Stafford Smith
Morehouse Color Guard Led by: The Morehouse College Glee Club
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” Text by James Weldon Johnson Music by J. Rosamond Johnson
Provost Brown
THE OCCASION
GREETINGS FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
SPECIAL PRESENTATION OF THE 2022 OTIS MOSS JR. AND OTIS MOSS III ORATORICAL CONTEST WINNERS
arr. David F. Oliver
Willie E. Woods ’85 Chairman, Morehouse College Board of Trustees President and Managing Director, ICV Partners, New York City, N.Y.
The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. ’56 Chairman Emeritus, Morehouse College Board of Trustees
2 0 2 2 F O U N D E R ’ S D AY C O N V O C AT I O N | 4 |
Morehouse College Glee Club
“Behold now, Praise the Lord!” by Everett Titcomb
MUSICAL SELECTION
President David A. Thomas, Ph.D. 12th President, Morehouse College
INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER
The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III ’92 Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Ill.
FOUNDER’S DAY ADDRESS
Dean Carter
The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III ’92
UNVEILING OF OIL PORTRAIT
CLOSING HYMN
RECESSIONAL
“Dear Old Morehouse” J.O.B. Moseley ’29
Morehouse College Glee Club
“God of Our Fathers”
George W. Warren
Dr. David E. Morrow ’80 Professor of Music and Director of the Morehouse College Glee Club Dr. David Francis Oliver College Organist
Marshals of the Faculty: Dr. Adria Welcher
CEREMONIAL MARSHALS Chief Ceremonial Marshal Dr. John K. Haynes '64 Macebearer: Dr. Lance Shipman Young ’95
Marshals of the Platform Party: Dr. Triscia Wharton Hendrickson Dr. Robert Tanner Lead Marshals of the Students: Dr. Keith Hollingsworth Mr. Illya Davis '89 Marshals of the Students: Dr. Jaime Chavez Dr. Brian Lawrence Dr. Yohance Murray ’96 Dr. Wallace Sharif ’94 Dr. Patrick Washington ’03 Marshal of the Alumni: Mr. Henry Goodgame ’84 Mr. Sean Bland '05
2 0 2 2 F O U N D E R ’ S D AY C O N V O C AT I O N | 5 |
T H E REV. D R . OT I S M OS S I I I ’ 9 2 A third-generation warrior for civil and human rights, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III, has built his ministry on community advancement and racial and social justice activism. As senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill., since 2008, Dr. Moss routinely preaches and practices a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problems of mass incarceration, environmental justice and economic inequality. Dr. Moss is part of a generation of ministers committed to preaching a prophetic message of love and justice, which he believes are inseparable companions that form the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As part of his community engagement through Trinity United Church of Christ, Dr. Moss is currently providing vision for an ongoing-multi-year social project in Chicago called Imani Village. The goal of Imani Village is to develop and build a physical and social community at 95th & Cottage Grove, gateway to Chicago’s Pullman Community. The project is designed to provide all of the components a community would need to be whole, including a medical health center, lodging for tourists, housing for multiple generations, multiple options for fresh food and vegetables, and a sports and recreation center. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Moss is an honors graduate of Morehouse College who earned a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Chicago Theological Seminary. He returned to Yale in 2014 to present the famed Lyman Beecher lectures. The three-day event included an in-depth discourse on the subject of "The Blue Note Gospel: Preaching the Prophetic Blues in a Post Soul World." The lectures, which demonstrated a homiletic blueprint for prophetic preaching in the 21st century, were the foundation of his book, Blue Note Preaching in a Post-Soul World: Finding Hope in an Age of Despair. Dr. Moss has a passion for preaching, which led him back to the classroom. As a visiting lecturer of homiletics at Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology, Dr. Moss helped up-and-coming preachers build and strengthen their own preaching ministries. In early 2022, Dr. Moss was named a professor of homiletics at McAfee, where he will continue to teach the next generation of preachers.
In addition to being an author and educator, Dr. Moss is also founder and CEO of the Unashamed Media Group, established in 2012. The production company is a faith based social justice collective, dedicated to curating stories to inspire the heart and challenge structures that hinder human flourishing. The Group’s latest production, Otis’ Dream, is a narrative documentary short film, highlighting Otis Moss, Sr.’s 1946 attempt to vote in Troup County, Ga. The film has not only been featured on Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday, The Joy Reid Show and Roland Martin Unfiltered, but it is also the winner of eight film festival awards in the United Kingdom and the United States. Festival awards include, best narrative short, best documentary short, best musical score, best actor and audience favorite. Currently Unashamed Media is in pre-production for a feature length version of Otis’ Dream. With a unique gift to communicate across generations, Dr. Moss’ creative bible-based messages have inspired young and old alike. His intergenerational preaching gift has made Dr. Moss a popular speaker on college campuses, at conferences, and churches across the globe. He is highly influenced by the works of Zora Neale Hurston, August Wilson, Howard Thurman, Jazz, and Hip-Hop music. The work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the pastoral ministry of his father, Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio, have been primary mentors for his spiritual formation. Dr. Moss is the former pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., his first pastorate, where the church grew from 125 members to over 2100 disciples during his tenure. His earlier publications include: Redemption in a Red Light District, and The Gospel According to the Wiz: And Other Sermons from Cinema. He co-authored The Gospel Re-Mix; How to Reach the Hip-Hop Generation with three other contributors, and Preach! The Power and Purpose Behind Our Praise, with his father. His sermons, articles, and poetry have appeared in several print and online publications, including Sojourners Magazine and The African American Pulpit Journal. He is married to his college sweetheart, the former Monica Brown of Orlando, Fla., a Spelman College and Columbia University graduate. They are the proud parents of two creative and humorous children, Elijah Wynton and Makayla Elon.
2 0 2 2 F O U N D E R ’ S D AY C O N V O C AT I O N | 6 |
Li Ev’ry Vƣce and Sing Lift ev’ry voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies; Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us; Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won. James Weldon Johnson
Dear Old M eh se Dear old Morehouse, dear old Morehouse, We have pledged our lives to thee; And we’ll ever, yea forever, Give ourselves in loyalty. True forever, true forever, To old Morehouse may we be; So to bind each son the other, Into ties more brotherly. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Make us steadfast, honest, true To old Morehouse and her ideals, And in all things that we do. J.O.B. Moseley ’29
2022 FOUNDER’S WEEK
Schedule E nts THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17 5:30 p.m.
Thurman Thursday “Legacy in Dialogue”
Featuring The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. ’56 and The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. ____ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19 11 a.m.
Reflections of Excellence
Featuring the 2021 Bennie and Candle Honorees Moderator Darryl Forges National Correspondent CNN Newsource ____ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19 6 p.m.
The 34th Annual “A Candle in the Dark” Gala Master of Ceremonies Clifton Powell Actor ____ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 5:30 p.m.
155th Founder’s Day Worship Service Preacher The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Haggray Executive Director American Baptist Home Missions Societies and Judson Press
830 Westview Drive, S.W. Atlanta, GA 30314 morehouse.edu